The Debts of the Lenders: Shards of a Golden Crown

(Gold) All that glitters. ...

The low-hanging fruit has been picked already, so now it takes more time, innovation and money to get metals out of the ground. Also, new financial markets are opening all the time - most notably OUTSIDE of the West. Dubai, Shanghai, Mumbai, etc. are all vibrant exchanges.


(Government Currencies - notably the Greenback) All that's tarnished . .. .

Generally, gold's rise is due to the dollar's fall.

In the short term, the US faces the sub-prime crisis, bloated money supply, high oil prices, Iraqi war, consumers unwilling to spend, and rising unemployment. AND that's just in the short term. The US also faces a demographic explosion of older folks that is poised to suck trillions into an inefficient and bloated health-care system.